9.25.2003

This childcare thing definitely has its advantages. Today, I used my favorite slow cooker, the Weber grill to make dinner. I took a bone-in pork loin roast (4.2 lbs, ca. $12) and gave it a quick rub of brown sugar, paprika, salt, pepper, cumin, parsley and threw it on the weber this morning. Indirect heat, dome temp about 240 to 300-deg-F from 10 am to 4 pm (I originally started it in a 250-deg-F oven at 8 am, but just couldn't go through with it), fat side up, thank you. I've done pork butts in the past but this pork loin was by far a superior cut. Much less fatty and after the 8 hours smoking was up, I removed the dark brown-barked piece of meat, let it rest tented with foil for 30 minutes and pulled it apart. Pulled pretty easy. Then simply cut up the meat and dressed it with a quick sauce of ketchup and cider vinegar (the spices and fat coming from the cooked meat). I then let the mixture sit for 30 minutes before putting it on sesame seed buns with coleslaw. Unbelievable.

It was the simplest pulled pork I've ever done. I think the better cut was crucial and also getting a bone-in piece may have helped the meat to cook more thoroughly (in just 8 hours). Traditionally, pulled pork (done by the REAL (not the dysfunctional gang at alt.food.barbecue) pit masters) is done for 18 hours at a much lower temp. This is a pretty darn close approximation.